


Sleep

by Tabbynerdicat



Series: Stripesverse [12]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-31 06:54:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21105569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabbynerdicat/pseuds/Tabbynerdicat
Summary: This was an egotober prompt that I felt deserved its own story.Damien decided to be the villain after all, but Mark isn't at all satisfied with his overall performance. To create the force of destruction he'd envisioned, something needs to change. Someone needs to wake up. Someone needs to make Damien crack.





	Sleep

_"... Don't worry, I'll protect you."_

_Cold_. Cold, and wet, and _heavy_... she was supposed to be breathing, wasn't she…?

_Wasn't she?_

** _"How is this supposed to help us take back control...? We are the heart and soul of this channel, after all…"_ **

_"You haven't seen Celine anywhere around here, have you…?"_

** _"I've been pushed aside… replaced. Mocked…"_ **

Her hair tickled her cheeks as she floated through the fluid medium, head pounding, ears _throbbing_… what had happened? Where…?

** _"It's exciting, isn't it? Knowing there are endless possibilities waiting for you…"_ **

_"... If I could avoid her, I'd rather… do it…"_

Pressure on her chest, her stomach, her neck- she was slowly being crushed, so _slowly_… she was meant to be in pain, wasn't she?

_Why can't I feel anything?_

It all felt like some twisted, strange dream...

_"You look tired… I think you need to get some sleep."_

_Sleep…_

Her eyes snapped open in shock, burning in the icy water that encompassed her as she became conscious for the first time in… in…

_How long have I been asleep?!_

She had to stay awake! Stay awake, stay _alert_\- how could she have let this happen?! She'd become too weak, too _careless… _She couldn't let Mark take back control of the form she'd sacrificed so much to save. She couldn't let him ruin all of her hard _work_...

** _"I've been waiting a long time to see you again..."_ **

Floundering as the currents threatened to drag her down, Celine kicked frantically against the tide, her thick winter clothes permeated so heavily with water that she could hardly even move her limbs. So cold, so _numb…_ but she had to keep moving. Damien needed her- _Damien_...

_"You can't come back from this. It'll change you forever."_

Her heart sank in her heavy chest, realisation flooding her senses, and… oh, _no_…

Damien had taken over. Damien was out there- he was _vulnerable_, and Celine had just _let_ him have reign over their mind, and… oh, how foolish could she be? He wasn't ready for this- he didn't _deserve_ this burden…

_It can't be too late to save him._

"Damien!" Celine shouted feebly, breaking the water's surface at last. She didn't remember where she'd fallen- she didn't remember when she'd _slept_… But this didn't seem familiar at all. The cabin, the frozen lake, the mountains that had once stood tall around them… where were they?

She couldn't see anything but _white_… a blizzard? But it resembled more of a fog than a flurry, and she couldn't bring herself to ponder on it while she was struggling to even keep afloat.

"Damien?!" She called again, trying to grab onto a piece of broken ice that had melted away from the lake's surface, trying desperately to avoid being dragged back down. "Damien!"

_Where was he?_

The last thing Celine remembered was falling, their very world splitting around them- everything she'd fought so hard to maintain, _lost_… her hand was wrenched from Damien's as an avalanche of snow knocked her to the ground, she hit her head, and…

_And now I'm here._

"Damien, hurry!" Celine pleaded, not knowing how much longer she could keep herself afloat in the freezing body of water. How long had she been stuck down there, helpless and alone? How long had she been asleep…?

** _"I've been waiting patiently- he promised he would let me in again!"_ **

"D-Damien, is that…?" Celine asked softly, almost hesitant to acknowledge the voices rebounding from the snowy slopes. It was dangerous in this place- every turn was another path for the terrors that sought revenge for everything she'd done to them. "Is that you…?"

** _"Let's see how far down this rabbit hole really goes…"_ **

It was Damien, she _knew_ it. His voice was distorted and it echoed as though he were speaking through fan blades, but she'd recognise her little brother anywhere. He was still here- he was _alright_…

"Damien!" Celine shouted again, lungs growing hoarse as she choked on the water surrounding her, barely able to keep her legs moving as her grip began to falter. "Damien, _please_!"

** _"I missed you… very much."_ **

Slipping beneath the surface, she couldn't feel her legs… she tried in vain to kick her way to the light but she was sinking steadily, choking on the water streaming in through her nose, wincing at the growing pressure on her chest...

She tried to call out again, but her voice couldn't be heard when she was trapped so deeply in her watery prison- she felt herself growing heavier still. Tiny bubbles of excess air beaded around her as she plummeted to the lake's floor, eyes glazing over…

_"Poisoned, beaten, strangled, drowned and shot, in that order…"_

"How does it feel, Celine…?"

She hated the way that her chest spasmed at the sound of her late husband's voice, forcing her to take in a deadly gulp of ice cold lake water. She couldn't see him, but she could _feel_ him- his presence surrounding her, his awful robe gliding across her cheeks and tangling in her limbs- she hated that she couldn't even _recoil_... All the while she struggled to choke back the water she'd swallowed, but it was no use.

Deep, maniacal laughter sounded in her ears.

_"It's not fair, is it…?"_

Vision fading, the light dimming above her as she felt a death-like sleep encroaching in on her weakened mind. The last few breaths of air she'd taken streamed from her lips in a small mass of bubbles, fading into the endless sea of black. Her frantic arms fell limp at her sides, weightless in the harsh cold. No, _no_… she had to be stronger than this.

This… this _couldn't_ be the end.

"The end? Oh, but we've only just _begun_. I'll _never _let you leave me, now... I'll never let you _rest_."

She saw his ghostly pale face, fading in and out of view- the grin splitting his lips could only be described as _mad_. His chest was open, bleeding, the mark her hatchet had left turning the water around them a chilling crimson- his hand cupped her cheek, but she couldn't move to flinch away.

_"There is no ending for the likes of us…"_

"Did you ever wonder, my dear, how it felt to see you with him? The pain, coursing through me? Did you even _think_ about how it would hurt me? I _loved_ you. I gave up _everything_ for you, and this is how you thank me?"

_I'm not your 'dear', you insufferable son of a-_

"_This_ is how it feels, and now you get to experience it over, and over, and over again, _forever_." Mark snarled angrily, clutching at her soaked winter coat. "I will _never _let you leave!"

_You never could hold back from your pathetic little monologues, could you?_

"Do you feel it? Your lungs bursting, your chest _caving? _Death would be too simple for the likes of you and I. When you ran off, the hurt was _unbearable_… time and time again, no matter how many ways I tried to end it… nothing could compare to the pain of _your _betrayal. Though sitting alone in the tub, sinking beneath the surface and letting myself drown… it was almost as horrible. You _broke_ me, Celine… but broken things can be remade, even better than before. You would know that more than anyone, wouldn't you?"

Was this her fate? To lie here underwater, frozen in time, listening to the taunts of a man she'd used to love? The man who'd _murdered_ her baby brother, who'd hunted them so avidly for _years_…? Was the universe really so cruel…?

_After everything I did to save him… It's probably what I deserve._

"You built this place for broken things, after all…" Mark continued, tilting his head to one side as he mocked her. "But unlike your fool of a brother, I came back _stronger_. Without you to guide his every move, he's become even weaker than before. _Sheep-like_. He's the _perfect_ villain, really, I should _thank_ you… This little game is turning out to be such _fun_."

Celine wished she could move- wished she could speak, just so that she could let everything she'd been holding back loose on the man who'd betrayed them all. The years of abuse, the darkness, the _pain_… He deserved a fate much worse than death.

"Oh, come now…" Mark laughed, his voice carrying through the eerie water around them. "Don't look so _unimpressed_, dear… Without you, I'd _never_ have discovered all this potential. By breaking my heart, you did me a _favour_…"

_It was hardly my intention, trust me._

"And now…" Mark chuckled, brushing a finger over Celine's blue lips. "I have you at last. There's nobody else to run to, now. Isn't that just _beautiful_…?"

_I hate you._

A sudden rush of cool water, the surge shifting Celine's still body downwards as the thin ice sheets _cracked _above them. Fragmented shards of ice bounced off her coat as thick arms wrapped around her torso, someone tugging her close. She clung feebly to his clothing for support, her mind barely processing her surroundings as she broke the surface of the water again, her cheeks aching terribly in the harsh cold air.

She choked, coughing up mouthfuls of water, her throat feeling horribly constricted as her lungs heaved, trying to clear up her airway so she could _breathe_ again. But… when was the last time she'd truly been able to breathe?

"I've got you, Celine…"

_Damien…_

She couldn't speak, couldn't even cry- she could barely move her stiff fingers as he lay her down on the icy floor, unbuttoning her coat. Compressions- one, two, three… the water was backed up in her throat, but she couldn't muster the strength to cough, turning her head instead and letting it dribble from between her chapped lips. There was too much, too _much_… Damien kept up his pace.

"Hold still…"

_He's so… calm._

She couldn't see him very well, her eyes irritated and red from the cold. He was wet, his eyes hidden, his hands as cold as _ice_. He wasn't wearing a parka anymore- instead, he seemed to have changed into an unkempt-looking suit, and a deep red tie that stood stark against the white of his shirt. He was… _blurry_, too. But a different kind of blur, one that seemed to vibrate around his body, leaking into their surroundings. There was a dull ringing in her ears...

_It changed you, didn't it…?_

She didn't know how much time had passed. The moments seemed to drag on forever, but the sky's hue hadn't shifted. The cold water lapped at her feet, the tide threatening to drag her back down to the depths of her own insanity- but Damien refused to give up.

"Just a little bit longer, Celine…" Damien murmured softly, taking a moment to wipe his wet hair from his eyes. "You're going to be alright…"

His eyes were dark blue, when before they'd been brown. What had happened to him? Taking control of this realm, their _mind_… it wasn't meant to have such a drastic influence on his physical form. Her lungs were slowly clearing, but her heart was heavy as ever- was this really the same man she'd left behind?

She coughed and sputtered, doubling over and clenching the snow in her fists as she scrambled as far as she could from the gap in the ice. She could still feel the remnant of his touch, his embrace, his _influence_… it made her sick. She wanted him dead. She _needed_ him gone…

She couldn't bring herself to sleep comfortably while he was still out there.

_"Just promise me one thing… make sure that bastard stays dead."_

"What did he say to you?" Damien asked her, getting to his feet and walking over to her, offering her his hand. "How long have you been awake down there…?"

Celine gripped his arm, shivering at the cold- where were his gloves? How was he coping in this horrible place with only a suit to shelter himself from the harsh weather? Had he cut his hair? Was that… eyeliner?

_I need to get a grip! It doesn't matter now…_

"Are you alright?" Celine shivered instead, avoiding the answers she knew she'd have to give eventually, wondering just what had happened while she'd been out of commission. Her throat was sore and her voice was rough, barely even audible- Damien didn't comment on it.

_Strange…_

"I've been worse, as you'll recall." Damien sighed, sounding rather tired. His blurry aura quickened in pace briefly, vibrating as if _angry_\- but soon subsided. Celine had never seen anything like it before. She was almost afraid to question it. The only other person who'd been changed by the house had become a _monster_, after all…

_Damien is nothing like him._

"How long has it been?" Celine asked, part of her dreading Damien's response. Had it been days, weeks? _Years_? When he didn't reply immediately, she grew worried. She opened her mouth to say something, but found herself unable to do more than shudder. The _cold… _it was unbearable.

"Time is broken." Damien answered eventually, pressing his hand to his temples as if his head was aching. "It's… difficult. Mark damaged many things- our minds, our bodies… he ripped apart the world around us and _nothing _makes sense anymore. But… it's been years. That much, I know…"

_Years…_

"What… what have you been doing...?" Celine whispered, feeling a little empty as she let the reality of the situation sink in. She'd been sleeping in a frozen lake for _years_… how could anyone shrug something like that away like it was nothing? She wanted to scream, she wanted to _cry_…

But she had to be strong. Damien needed her… didn't he?

_Of course he does._

He'd _always _needed her. He was shy when they were growing up, never speaking out of turn, always biting his tongue in front of their conservative parents and older cousins. Celine was the only one he could ever truly confide in- and while he'd had close friends in Mark and Will, there were some things that he just couldn't bring himself to tell them. How he felt like he was holding them back sometimes, or how much he hated it when Will interrupted his studies to talk about the girls in their class, or how he loathed even thinking about disagreeing with Mark, because the other man was so much better at winning their pointless debates.

They were so _close_, they told each other _everything_.

_But I never told him what Mark did to me…_

Didn't she owe him that information, now?

"I found William- although… he isn't quite himself as of late. It seems that what happened at the manor took its toll on his mind as well- the poor man's gone _completely _insane."

Celine let out something between a sigh and a laugh, though aloud it sounded more like a sob. _William… _He was always a little eccentric. It was one of the things she'd admired most about him- he was so open to her interests, and he embraced her individuality, taking pride in supporting her instead of using her as his trophy wife.

She hadn't even given Will a thought… not since that fateful night.

_I had to protect you..._

"How is he?" Celine questioned, finally managing to stand on her own, letting go of Damien's icy hand as quickly as she could. She could feel again, now- her skin was thawing, her vision clearing, her clothes slowly drying out. The blizzard, she noticed, was calming.

Damien simply shrugged, uncertain of how to explain. "He is… the same old William, I suppose. Still paranoid, and obnoxious, and _immature… _You'd have a fit if you saw him now. He decided to bleach his mustache and dye it bright _pink_. The fool… It's impossible to take him seriously."

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence.

"... _Pink_." Celine muttered slowly, this time giving a heavier sigh as she folded her weary arms. "Of course… I hate to say that I'm not surprised. He's always been rather odd… so you two are working together, then?"

"Regretfully." Damien agreed with disdain, the emotion barely even showing on his face. "He is quite the handful, but… I find there's a part of me that just can't let him go. I'm sure you'd feel the same, although… once you see how ridiculously disgusting his style has become since the last time you spoke, you just might change your mind."

Celine laughed again, her hoarse throat paining her- but she gave Damien a weak smile all the same, gesturing to his own strange outfit in turn.

"You're not looking too uniform yourself, little brother..."

And for the first time since they'd started talking, Damien smiled- he smiled, and his eyes shone brighter, and for a moment he almost seemed _normal_…

But then that moment ended.

"Times have changed, Celine. My appearance… it suits the man I've become. I quite like it, in fact. You'll find that most women these days wear clothes that our mother would liken to those of a soiled dove… my attire is hardly so scandalous."

Celine scoffed softly, still unsure that she was pleased with the changes Damien had gone through in her absence. Still… she supposed that he'd never been a conventional man, as much as he pretended to be in the public eye. _Makeup_… their mother would never have approved of it.

Though she supposed, their mother wouldn't have approved of most things the two of them had done after she'd passed. The magic they'd wielded, the lies they'd told, the lovers that they'd each seen in secret for fear of incurring their family's wrath… their parents could never understand them. And now… now, they wouldn't ever have the chance.

_Oh, Mom, Dad… I miss you. I miss you both…_

They were in a better place. They weren't stuck here like their children, and for that Celine was grateful. Their lives had been simple… but she'd been staring into space, lost, and Damien placed his hand on her shoulder. He appeared concerned, though the shadows on his face made it hard to tell what he was really thinking. When had his features become so _dark…_?

"You seem lost." Damien commented, his voice reverberating again, the ringing in Celine's ears growing slightly louder as time passed on. "I imagine this isn't quite the reunion you expected… Is something troubling you?"

"It's Mark…" Celine shivered, hating the way the name felt on her tongue. "He's still here, he… I thought you were going to kill him. I thought you were going to make sure he couldn't _hurt _us again, Damien, he-"

"There is only so much I can do to stop him." Damien interrupted, suddenly seeming… tense. His eyes flashed red- _red_?! Celine couldn't help but take a step back in mild fear and utter bewilderment.

_I've never seen anything like this..._

"He is cunning, and creative. Every time I have him in my grasp he slips away... But he has followers now- supporters that adore him, and idolise him, like he's some sort of _hero_. He _thrives_ on their weak little minds. No matter how conceited and uncaring he is to them, they've fallen trap to his charisma, much like we had fallen… There is only one way to hurt him, now. Only one way to cause him pain. He always did care more for his reputation than his life..."

"Damien, you…" Celine swallowed, struck by newfound terror at the sight of the light emanating from her brother. "You're _glowing- _what happened to you? What… what has he done?"

She took a shivering breath, tears leaking at last from her eyes.

"W-What have _I_ done…?"

"The change took some getting used to, I… I apologise. I should have disguised myself before we spoke..." Damien murmured, his appearance shifting- and suddenly, he almost seemed normal. _Almost_… his eyes were brown once more, but his skin was washed free of colour and his suit looked suspiciously like it was covered in blood. _Blood_… something told Celine that it didn't belong to the desperate spirit they'd left behind in the lake.

The startling transition only made her heart beat faster, her mind spinning as she wondered what she could do in a situation like this. What could she _do_?!

"N-no, you… you're not Damien. You're _not_ my brother- he's clean-cut and tidy and empathetic and _careful_, and… and he's kind. He's an _idiot_. He's j-just a big dumb… he couldn't plan a _murder_… what have I done to you? What have I _d-done…_"

_"The choices I've made, the people I've used… The things I've had to do to keep you alive…"_

Perhaps, he would have been better off dead...?

Damien frowned at her sudden panic, seeming offended- it was a look she'd seen so many times, but it was _chilling_ all the same_… _She felt fear gripping her heart as she struggled to breathe, feeling so _cold _again… it was snowing. Raining down little pieces of frozen water that burned on her skin, sending chills through her veins.

_He's causing this…?_

"Celine, I swear to you, I'm not some… some _imposter_." Damien stated firmly, eyes flaring briefly as he struggled to keep his obvious annoyance in check. But they _never _hid anything from each other. She knew that he was ready to break at any moment, and… she'd done this, hadn't she?

_This is all my fault..._

"I'm sorry…" Celine whispered, unable to tear her hand from her mouth- when had she cupped it there? "I'm s-sorry, Damien, I… I can't let you do this. I _can't_ let you pay for the things I did, I… I need to take back control. Before it's too late for you."

"It was always too late for me, Celine." Damien sighed again, probably trying to be comforting- but he only came off as dismissive and unpleasant, tired of entertaining his long-lost twin. "You'd best go back to sleep- you're shaking."

"I'm s-shaking because it's cold!" Celine refused adamantly, standing her ground despite how weak she felt beneath her tough exterior. "I don't need to go back to sleep- let me do this, Damien! You have _no idea_ what this power could do to you-"

"Oh, I have _some _notion…" Damien uttered somewhat bitterly. "The energy keeps me stressed and tired, short and snappy… I can't _stand _the thought of dreaming. I can't feel my heart, and yet… I can feel it stronger all the same. It affects me differently than it affected you, Celine. It's better if I-"

"No!" Celine snapped, cutting him off before he could come up with any more excuses. "This isn't fairytale magic, Damien, it's _dark_ energy. It can corrupt and ruin _anything_. It could ruin _you_… I shouldn't have given in. I shouldn't have _let _you take it from me…"

"Then perhaps you shouldn't have dabbled with darkness in the first place." Damien muttered coldly, straightening out his bloodied blazer. "What's done is done. Some things just can't be fixed…"

_"Some things just can't be fixed…"_

"Can you hear those voices too?" Celine shivered, the echo of a distant memory looping in her mind. "That night… you told me you heard voices. What… what did that _mean_?"

Damien let her step closer, let her look into his eyes for reassurance. It was painstakingly clear she hadn't found what she wanted. What had she seen in them? The monster she feared he'd become? The villain he'd been molded into against his will?

She bit back a sob.

"It signified… a tear in the fabrication of this realm." Damien answered eventually, when he could no longer bear the silence between them. "It was William, breaking through… he was changing. He was tapping into his potential, and that was how I found him. He explained everything to me… but it couldn't be happening again. I don't hear what you're hearing… there's no one else in these woods."

"Don't- don't _give_ me that!" Celine growled, glaring up at Damien, _knowing_ he'd chosen those words to taunt her. To make her feel unstable and insecure, _inferior_… Just like she'd made him feel all those years ago. The energy had tainted him- it was already too late, wasn't it?

"You just- you _pulled_ me from a lake where my ex-husband was _drowning_ me, you _know_ we aren't alone! I'm not a _fool_, Damien!"

"And I'm no longer the fool between us, Celine." Damien acknowledged coldly, tilting his head to one side- the familiar motion made Celine feel sick to her stomach. "I'm _quite_ capable of handling this burden while you recover your strength."

"_You_," Celine spat, shoving Damien angrily backwards, "aren't handling _anything_! Mark is still out there, Damien, he… he's _dangerous_! And all you've done is get a _stupid_ haircut, lollygagging around with _Will_, you… you used to be better than this!"

**"I used to be ****_weak_****!"** Damien snarled, his auras vibrating into view again. With a flick of his wrist he sent Celine stumbling backwards, the very wind around them bending to his will- what kind of power did he have over this realm?!

**"Meek, and impressionable, and ** ** _predictable_ ** **… I was ** ** _nothing_ ** **, Celine! I was ** ** _nothing_ ** ** without you. But now… now, I can be ** ** _something_ ** **. I can bend reality, I can alter fate… I can walk without need for some silly ** ** _cane_ ** **. You'd prefer the pushover I used to be? You'd ** ** _prefer_ ** ** that I remained clueless, and gullible, and dependent on you?!"**

Damien's eyes were black as pitch, the shadows around them growing deeper. Even the pale snow had dulled to grey, and the world shimmered, barely even functional. Barely even _real_…

_I need to stop this._

"Yes, because at least then you'd be _happy_!" Celine cried, tugging at her hair. She was scared, she was _hurt_… she was guilty for all of this. "You d-don't understand… it changed me. It made me s-so _hostile_, and cruel, and dismissive… it corrupted me. And it's c-corrupted _you_, now, and… I never wanted this for you. I never _wanted_ you to have to feel this way…"

Damien stopped, hesitating for a moment as Celine attempted to explain herself. Though he looked as though he was paying attention, she got the sense he wasn't really listening at all. In fact, his glare had deepened by the end of her first sentence, and as soon as he was sure she was finished, he let out a sinister chuckle.

_No…_

**"****_Happy_****."** Damien mocked, a wry smile spreading across his darkened cheeks. "What would you know of my _happiness_, Celine? Did you think I was happy living in the public eye, forced to mingle with women who could never hope to spark my interest? Did you think I was happy when you ran from Mark, and I was forced to pick up the pieces you'd left him in?"

He let out an untamed growl of frustration, the ice under his feet splitting apart as if his sheer anger was parting them. Celine stumbled backwards again, fearful of Damien for what must have been the first time ever- but this wasn't Damien. This _wasn't_ her little brother.

This man was something _dark_.

"Did you think I was **happy **when you stopped speaking to me, and I was left to think I'd done something wrong?!" Damien all-but shouted, fists clenching at his sides. "Did you think I was **_happy_**to sit back and watch you fool around with my childhood friends, _breaking their hearts_?! How could you truly think that I was **_happy_** being associated so closely with the woman who'd torn apart our friendship?!"

"You-!"

**"****_No_****, Celine, ****_shut up_****!" **Damien demanded, clothes starting to flow in the wind as the flurry around them grew stronger, _thicker_, drowning out everything as far as the eye could see. **"I'm ****_happier_**** now than I've ever been! I can wear what I want, I can ****_do_**** what I want, and nobody could even ****_think_**** to take advantage of me the way they used to do!"**

"You're not like this!"

She was weakened, buried in ice cold snow and shivering, glaring up at him as if she no longer knew who he was. As if _he_ was the wrongdoer, the _cause _of this whole pathetic plot- and he'd never felt so _betrayed_.

At least Mark had had the _decency _to stab him from the front.

**"Oh?"** Damien challenged, eyes growing ever angrier. **"****_Aren't_**** I? Perhaps you never really knew me ****_at all_****. I thought I could trust you with anything… I thought you were the ****_one _****person who saw through my mask."**

The low laugh that emanated from his lips almost sounded sad, but neither sibling was conscious enough to notice or care. The twins had always been so _close- _so understanding, and open, and supportive. Just where had they gone so _wrong_? How had they ended up so violent, and scared, and _broken_?

Celine shuddered, her fists still clenched in the snow around her as she tensed, struggling to stay alert. "This isn't _you_, Damien…"

He smiled once again, something suddenly seeming so _satisfying _about that statement. _Damien… _who was he, really? A facade, sent out to make friends and acquaintances with people he inwardly loathed? A name attached to a child who'd never felt at home with his own family, knowing they'd turn on him if he was ever true to himself? An escape from the dangerous desires and emotions he'd never allowed himself to embrace while alive, oppressed by the fear of someone stronger discovering his perversions?

_There's nobody stronger than me, now..._

**"You're right…"** He agreed, sounding more relieved than he'd ever have expected, lips twisting into a sinister grin. **"I'm ****_not_**** Damien. Damien is ****_dead_****, and I have ****_never _****felt so alive... In this place, where I can embrace who I was ****_truly_**** meant to be…"**

He let out a satisfied chuckle, cold heart swelling with excitement. Independence had never tasted so _sweet_.

**"I am ** ** _Dark_ ** **."**

"You're delusional." Celine huffed, tears blurring her fractured vision. "You're caught up in the moment, I know, b-but… this isn't _you_. This '_Dark'_ will never be _you… _you have to trust me. You _have _to-"

**"I don't have to do ****_anything_**** for you!"** Dark snapped, the ice underneath them splitting even further. Water began to rise, welling on the surface of the frozen lake- Celine couldn't help but gasp in terror, too fear-stricken to even move a muscle.

_"Damien-!"_

**"****_Never again!_****"** Dark shouted, howling into the fierce storm now brewing around them, wild hair whipping in the wind. **"I'm tired of giving people a ****_choice_****… I'm tired of handing away my power. I'm ****_done_**** playing ****_pretend!_****"**

His wrist flicked upwards, the ice under their feet falling away as the restless waters pulled them down. Down, down, to the dark depths of the lake- there was nobody here to fall for Celine's tears... She struggled, fighting it- but the current was too strong, pressing her into the sediment, _crushing_ her until she was forced to scream for help.

_But who here would help her, when she'd hurt them so much…?_

**"There isn't room for both of us, here."** Dark muttered, glaring coldly at the sister he'd used to adore as she moved feebly in the muddy ground. **"In this world… only one of us can benefit. Only ****_one_**** of us can rule… I couldn't destroy you if I wanted to. But thankfully, that won't be ****_necessary_****."**

She was slowing down, now- the icy water was chilling her to the bone, and her body was numb all over. She could barely move her arms, and she felt the weight on her back lifting, her body floating ever so slowly towards the surface.

Even if he let her leave, she couldn't win this… she knew it.

She couldn't bring herself to beg him for forgiveness.

**"I'm done following orders."** Dark snarled, voice booming through her ears as the lights faded out around her. **"Especially from the likes of ****_you_****… I'm taking back control of the life you owe me. And there's ****_nothing_**** you, or he, can do to ****_stop me_****!"**

_Ringing, blinding, aching through her ears… then silence._

Celine's body floated solemnly in the water, pale face so sweet and innocent in her death-like sleep that Dark could almost feel remorse. _Almost_… Her wide eyes were still fixed on him, though there was no accusation in their stare. Nothing but pity, and regret, and sorrow...

"Well _done_…"

Walking over to the scene as though the water surrounding him was merely an illusion, his red clothes casting a crimson glow on her cheeks, the Actor couldn't help but smirk at the sight that beheld him. The twins that had forsaken him, broken and beaten and _beautiful_. He couldn't think of a more spectacular view…

**"What pathetic speech do you have to bestow this time, ****_Mark_****?"** Dark uttered dangerously, sediment swirling threateningly around his sunken body. **"Can't you see that I'm busy?"**

"Mourning her won't earn her forgiveness, _trust me_…" Mark laughed, examining her body from below as she floated lifelessly to the surface of the lake. "Dear friend… you don't even realise what you've done, do you? I could never lay a finger on that woman- always so guarded, so _careful_… but not around you. The _one_ person she thought she could trust…"

**"What are you ****_talking_**** about?"** Dark hissed, turning on his heel, only to be met with darkness. He could hear Mark's chuckling all around him, his heart filling with dread, his very skin _crawling _as he peered warily into the murky waters around him.

"You've no need to fear me, Damien, my work here is _done_. And _you_… you played _right_ into my hands. I must say I'm quite impressed with your improvisation skills- such _passion_, such _drive! _I couldn't have designed a better character arc myself."

**"This isn't a ****_story_****, Mark."** Dark growled, gritting his teeth in frustration. **"This ridiculous fantasy of yours needs to ****_end_****. Get out of my ****_sight_****-"**

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong. Of _course_ this is all a story… how else could it be unfolding so poetically? So _tragically_…? I told you once before, old friend. Every good story needs a villain… and at last, I _have_ you. I'll admit, I had my doubts at first… though you happily accepted the role of the main antagonist, _well_, that's hardly the same thing as a villain, now is it?"

**"I don't have ** ** _time_ ** ** for your-"**

"Antagonists can be redeemed, Damien, but I wanted you to be _ruined_…"

Celine's body stopped rising as it reached the thin layer of ice that sealed her in her watery tomb, all intent of retrieving her forgotten as Dark lunged blindly at his surroundings, searching for the ever-elusive enemy that continued to taunt him.

"And what better way to ruin you, than to let you _betray _your own sister…"

Dark shivered uncomfortably, something horrible welling in his chest as he let out a fierce growl, parting the lake around him- the Actor was still nowhere in sight.

"Something undeniably malicious, and hurtful, and _cruel_… didn't that feel _good_? I could see it in your eyes… you've been waiting to put an end to her incessant bitching for years, haven't you? You saw the way she tossed you aside, _lied_ to you, _judged_ you…"

**"You ****_murdered_**** me,"** Dark hissed, closing his eyes in pain, **"****_You're_**** the one who betrayed us all- projecting your own guilty conscience onto me so that you could cope with the weight of your-!"**

"But how, Damien, did _I _betray them…?"

The Actor appeared in the darkness, still smiling, still _smug_… He opened his arms, gesturing proudly at Dark as if he was merely a fine work of art on a museum wall. A _possession_.

"How could I betray those who'd lost their faith in me _long ago_…? Celine, who ran off with someone I'd considered a brother, and _William_, the paranoid and unstable veteran… Truly, there was no bond between us left to sever. But _you… _you cruel, _heartless _man. She trusted you, and how did you repay her? By forcing her to die a slow, _painful_ death…"

Deep black eyes glanced guiltily at the still figure floating above them, her body swimming in the waters from which she'd just been saved, and… it started to dawn on him.

"She wasn't like you, you know that…" Mark hummed, sounding all-too pleased with himself. "She wasn't already dead when she came here… how do you think she maintained all of her power over this world? She was stronger than us, for she was still _living_… and _oh_ how it pleases me to know that she'll be_ far_ out of my way now. Thanks to you, dear friend… You've done me a _wonderful_ service."

_"Pure as the driven snow! Acting like you're the only one without blood on your hands!"_

"And you _relished_ in it…" Mark smirked, knowing he was right. "You _wanted_ to make her hurt, for _everything_ she put you through… I couldn't blame you. But there's a difference between you and I, Damien… One detail that decided _everything_, long before this all began…"

**"And what might that be?"** Dark relented, knowing that his dear old _friend_ would pester him until his pathetic little plot was made known.

"Why of course, _my_ story was only made to _entertain_…" Mark laughed, glancing up at the body of his former wife once more, grinning in satisfied contentment. "I'm their hero- their _protagonist_, the one they look up to, the one they _adore_. I'm the driving force behind this little narrative- without me, this world wouldn't _exist_… My intentions are noble. And _you_…"

He cupped Dark's cheek, not even flinching when Dark grabbed at his wrist, twisting it with a certain kind of malice in his eyes.

"_You_, my old friend… well, from the very moment you saw me, your old perspective on life changed forever. You wanted me gone- you wanted me to _die_… but you _never _had the gall to kill me yourself. Your _only _goal is to stop me- though from what, I cannot imagine. After all, my viewers simply _love_ how our little story is coming together. So much of their lives are dependent on _me_, so many of them believing in my good, _pure _heart. And you… Your only desire is to make all of that joy _go away_…"

**"I'm getting tired of listening to your worthless drivel."** Dark growled, shoving Mark away from him, the icy water around them masking the tears that were brewing in his eyes.

"_Careful_, Damien…" Mark taunted him, barely even losing his balance. "You just might commit something _worse_ than murder… and what a _fascinating_ plot point that would turn out to be."

Before Dark could lunge for him again, the Actor was gone- his body dissipating into the waves with one last, chilling, sequence of laughter, reverberating in his ears. The lake remained cold, and still- the only movement being that of Celine's limp body as it rested against the ice. Cold, lifeless… though Dark knew she was only asleep, Mark's words still got under his skin.

_I betrayed her…_

"I… I'm sorry…" Dark murmured, voice growing soft and tender with remorse as he lifted her body gently from the lake. "I'm so _sorry_, Celine… He's right, isn't he? I… I really _am _the villain…"

How could he have let himself lose control like that? When she'd tried to reason with him, he'd resorted to violence- and for _what_? The promising future that Mark would never let him pursue? The idea that somehow, _impossibly_, there was hope for him to lead a life of his own? It all seemed so _foolish_, now…

As he stepped onto the shore, the ground around his feet started to thaw. Dull green grass sprung up around him as he stumbled to a clearing, the surrounding forest of tree stumps now lush and blooming with life. He lay her down carefully, brushing her hair out of her eyes, closing them to give the illusion that she was resting peacefully.

_How could I do this?_

"I suppose I've nothing to lose, now…" Dark spoke, voice a little choked in his throat. "All I truly had was your faith, and now… now I'm _despicable_. I'm a monster, I… I'm everything he ever wanted me to _be_..."

Pretty pink lilies had started to spring up, surrounding his sister's still body- so hauntingly familiar that Dark recognised them immediately. It felt like salt in the wound, but he couldn't bring himself to destroy them, no matter how much they reminded him of that fateful day…

_"... a tear in the fabrication of this realm… changing… tapping into his potential…"_

He'd been mistaken, hadn't he? How could he have been so _blind_…? Of course this didn't happen by accident- of _course_ this was something the Actor had set in motion… but that didn't make the pain in his chest hurt any less. It didn't make him any less at fault for the murder of his own sister...

"Goodnight, Celine…" Dark sighed, biting back a sob as he kissed her forehead, standing upright. His heart seemed to leap into his throat, his head spinning… he sniffed sadly, unable to tear his eyes away from her as she remained still and unmoving.

"Sleep well…"

She couldn't tell him how much she loved him. She couldn't speak to soothe his worries, or to forgive his actions. She was unable to tell him that she was still here, still listening, silent and helpless to ease the pain… it broke her heart to see him like this.

Hero or villain, good or bad… Damien was her brother. She wanted to protect him. She wanted him to win against the greater evil, the _reason _they were in this mess in the first place. Mark needed to _pay_, and now… now, Damien was finally ready to deliver the justice they'd sought after for so long. No matter how horrible, or torturous, or _evil_… Damien wanted vengeance.

There was nothing holding him back, now.


End file.
